Archive for January, 2009

I don’t know which exact ones did it, but scumbag’s alleged fiance, Christina Raines, 24, finally heard what she needed to hear. Thank God for his need for publicity. After watching his interview with Martin Bashir, she moved out. Too bad somebody didn’t make a home movie for her to watch before she moved in. Guess she could have watched the gazillion TV appearances he’s already made. He looked completely disgusting. He didn’t even try to make himself appear presentable. His words are as despicably selfish as always and from them it’s clear he is a collector of “girls”. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that they really are vulnerable girls not women. “Cute as a button” & “they jump up on my lap”.

He likes the chase, he likes their attention, he likes to dominate them and once he has them and they see him for what he is and refuse to be dominated – he moves on. Fortunately Raines was able to move out before something happened to her.

And her children? Let’s hope her family finally steps in and protects them. From her actions, it’s clear she has not developed maternal judgment. And who is responsible for that?

And Peterson’s children? Who is counting the toll on them?

His youngest children still think mommy is “on vacation” and weren’t even allowed to mention their mother or celebrate her birthday this week. Her pictures remain on the wall. They know who mommy is and yet they are not allowed to acknowledge her. Is there anything more vile than that? Than the scumbag himself?

How are they going to react to “on vacation” the rest of their lives? He says they don’t need therapy. Yes they do. Now and later. How often is Stacy’s family allowed to be with them?

What about the older kids who live with him? What are those boys learning? How will they treat women? How are they being treated because of their father?

Is anyone anywhere from child protective services looking into his home environment?

I think this says it all about our new president. Madame Secretary still has a $6M debt – having taking a $13M personal loss. barry had $30M left at the end and the week before the election was spending money to run ads in Arizona as well as other places he knew he would never win – all the while not paying off Clinton’s debt and not asking his donors to do so. His first attempt – he did his little speech, talked about unity and then “forgot” to mention why they were there. That is the true nature of the man. Forget his words – it’s clear how little words really matter to him as they are never born out in action.

Imagine for a minute if it were the other way around. Would barry have been allowed to get out of the race with any debt? What would be the outrage?

Instead the media laughs and ridicules Clinton’s mother for having to make last minute pleas to pay down her daughter’s debt.

How many stump appearances did Clinton do to get barry elected?

And what about before he was officially coronated?

No other candidate has ever done that.

How much money did her fundraisers donate to him? More than $25M? More than the $13M of her personal debt? More than the $6M she still owes?

His donors donated $40M in one month earlier on and even more than twice that when she was out stumping for him. Her demographic won it for barry – not the black community. There was a whopping 2% increase in black voter turnout for the first biracial president. 1/3 of eligible black voters did not even bother to register. 8M eligible black voters couldn’t be bothered and all we heard was how white America would never vote for a black man. Get real. If he had to rely on the black vote McCain would be president.

And her thanks?

Pay off your own damn debt, wench. Use your Clinton name and do my bidding while I chill out in Hawaii and while I’m on my world adoration tour, get your voters to vote for me – but damn if I’m gonna be an honorable man and pay my due to thank you.

How much actual time has barry spent in photo shoots? Filming commercials and documentaries? Making press appearances? Take 1/20th of the time and put it toward fundraiser dinners and her debt would have been paid off – including her personal debt.

Man of integrity?

And not a single person has shamed him or brought up the issue. He spends $7M to move the convention outdoors. He spends well over $2M for Grant Park and leaves us Chicagoans to pay the rest when Illinois’ debt is $2.5 billion. He spends untold millions on his world tour, attack ads, the documentary commercial, and his whistle stop trip. The Inauguration was well over $150M and how much did he pay and how much are we going to have to pay?

Wasteful government spending?

He raised 3/4 BILLION dollars and yet his opponent is left to pay down her own $25 M debt.

He allowed the top diplomat of the United States to enter a job he appointed her to owing $13M to herself and $6M to others, knowing full well she would not be able to raise more funds and her husband’s fundraising efforts would be severely curtailed and the national media says not one word.

Man of integrity?

At the height of his popularity in December he could have given two maybe three appearances and cleared her full debt. He didn’t. As his nominee and #1 member of this team of rivals crap, she was only able to raise $1.6M. And how much was that derived directly from his efforts? $50k? $100K? $250K?

What does that say about him?

And who advised Mrs Obama about how to handle the press and her children and the press?

Who will be there to ask when she has more questions about etiquette and customs once she goes abroad and finally does some charity work?

Clinton is there when anyone – the Obamas – need her but is treated like crap otherwise.

Words don’t matter?

Nope. Not his. And he has no actual actions to judge.

Still.

What is it going to take, folks, for you to see who this man really is?

Peterson needed his fix. barry, Burris and blagojevich have overshadowed him so out he crawled out from his cave to demand his 15 seconds. First the engagement, then the stalking, then the moving in and now – with his fiance living in his house – he lets ABC’s Jim Avila into his house to talk about Stacy. What’s next? Nightline.

PETERSON: I think of the happier times all the time, some good memories. But it’s kind of painful, so I don’t really spend a lot of time walking down memory lane.

And then he mentions affairs she had? How could she possibly do that with him following her everywhere?

PETERSON: She left for somebody else, and there’s been several affairs discovered. So yeah, I’m pretty mad.

And then there’s another mysterious anonymous caller reporting a sighting on his lawyer’s answering machine. It’ so predictable. This time she was in Peoria.

CALLER: I’d just like you to know I did see Stacy again on January second.

What kind of wording is that? Look at each word. Doesn’t make sense.

How did they celebrate Stacy’s 24th birthday with fiance #5 in the house and while Stacy’s family and friends held a vigil?

PETERSON: We didn’t celebrate. We kind of like didn’t want to remind the children that she was gone.

He told them initially that mommy is on vacation and it appears he has never updated or explained it any further. He said they don’t need counseling.

PETERSON: It’s a little harder on the little girl. You know once in a while she’ll ask, you know, ‘I want my mommy or where’s mommy.’ And that’s hard.”

And then there’s the predictable narcissistic delusional madness.

PETERSON: I’m a celebrity everywhere in the world. I find it totally strange. I’ll be out somewhere, and I’ll get phone numbers put in my hand.

This man has to be stopped. Has he called any?

PETERSON: I’m keeping my options open.

And where was the fiance when he said that?

There is no engagement. Poor girl was a media pawn and her children are the ones who are suffering.

Mrs Obama is angry. She doesn’t want her children exploited. This in reference to the new Ty dolls. Ty, Inc of Westmont is known for its of Beanie Babies. It seems that the obama family photo spreads and TV appearances before they made it to the White House were not considered by her to be exploitation. Is it because she won’t be obtaining any of the $9.99 the dolls sell for? How much did the original Teddy Roosevelt teddy bear go for? They at least asked Roosevelt if they could use the name. Ty said they thought the names were lovely: “Marvelous Malia” and “Sweet Sasha” and that they weren’t modelled after the Obama girls. They are the same as all the other Ty Girlz except for the fact that they are the only darkly pigmented dolls in the 30 doll collection and their names happen to be familiar.

Information concerning the development of our products and how we come up with names, how we select them, how we trademark — that’s considered as proprietary. Sasha and Malia are beautiful names that worked very well with the dolls we were making.

It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not.

She knowingly allowed implantation of 8 embryos in a womb that had already produced six children ages 7, 6, 5, 3 and 2 y/o twins. Think about that alone. What mother can handle six children six years apart with at least two – maybe three – in diapers and unable to dress or bathe themselves and all six unable to care for themselves?

What grandmother allows her daughter to have fertility treatment when she already has 6 grandchildren living with her?

Did the mother lie to the fertility doctor about having other children? Or did he knowingly go along with it? I say he because I do not believe – nor do I want to believe – that a woman would willingly do that. If it was a woman – a mother – than she deserves a special place in prison.

It was wrong. And selfish. And immoral. And unethical. And against the laws of nature.

It is child abuse.

She has willingly deprived her already born children of a childhood. Children who had no say. Each one of them will be mothers to those children – if in fact they all stay together.

And if it isn’t already – it should be illegal.

And if the doctor hasn’t already lost his license – he should – and then he should be sent to prison.

This was not the first time the doctor has done this but it must be his last.

If it happened in another country – something has to be done to investigate it.

Having IVF — I would bet that at least her twins are a product of it also — when one already has six children is criminal. Criminal in ways I cannot begin to express.

The grandmother is the guiltiest party of all. Those six children were living with her. Her daughter was living with her. She is responsible for them if only in her domicile. A rational person, a mature woman, a loving mother, and a concerned grandmother would never have allowed such insanity. And as the provider of their shelter, she had a right and most certainly a duty to provide for all of them – most importantly the well-being of the grandchildren already alive.

Allowing the implantation of 8 more lives in her daughter’s womb violated the laws of nature and it should be a violation of civil law.

This leads me to the conclusion that the grandmother was a willing party to it.

And that leads me to believe that something much more is going on here.

Is there a religious or ethnic component? A cult? Illegal adoption? Baby selling? Child sex slavery?

It smells rank and is reminiscent of the Germans forcing the women to get pregnant to ensure the perpetuation of the Master Race.

Are they doing this is in the Arab world to replenish the number of human detonators?

Who has been funding this despicable act?

Something is very wrong here.

This is no random act. And it was clearly not an act of God.

And it is not the first time.

What are the chances all six were derived from fertility treatments?

She had those other six children somewhere and from the twins I would guess she has had fertility treatment assisted pregnancies. She had a gynecologist and an obstetrician who had to have known at least some part of her history. She had a fertility doctor. Yes. Fertility – not infertility. There is nothing infertile about her. She was trying to have the max amount of babies in the least amount of time possible. Superfertile.

Why?

If she was mentally ill that would have had to have been diagnosed somewhere along the way. Is there a pathological condition associated with any of this?

Does an actual biological father as in flesh and blood exist? Or was it all donor sperm?

Has she ever been married? Are their different fathers to the children?

How many different hospitals has she given birth at? They said she just “showed up” pregnant. Someone receiving IVF doesn’t just “show up” somewhere. She goes to where her doctor is on staff or is affiliated with.

Where else has she lived? Does she have a legal residence? Are the children in school?

There is a reason she is not allowing her name to be used. Somebody knows something. The children’s pediatrician. The schools. The neighbors. The medical staff. The billing office. Social Services. The police.

And the fertility doctor has done this before and probably has been doing it for awhile. He needs to be stopped immediately.

There are the well past menopausal woman in their late fifties and sixties giving birth to children they will mostly likely not be able to see get married or even graduate from high school. Children they know will grow up caring for them. Having the child for your daughter who is unable to conceive is one thing – having a child because it can be done is another.

The California mother who just gave birth to octuplets was on fertility treatment.

How is infertility defined?

Why does a mother of 6 children need fertility treatments of any sort and how many times had she already had it? For all of the pregnancies? From 6 to 14 children in five minutes. 8 premature infants: 9 1/2 weeks early, ranging from 1 pound 8 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces and six older children: 7, 6, 5, 3 and 2 y/o twins.

What type of mother does this to her children?

What kind of grandmother allows this, when she is already caring for her daughter and her 6 grandchildren within her home?

What type of OB doctor is allowing this to continue?

Who is paying for all of their medical care? And in the years to come?

The odds are very high that one or more of those children – if they survive – will have medical conditions requiring lifelong care.

Did she think about that when she selfishly had those 8 embryos implanted in her womb? She said she “never expected that the fertility treatment she received would result in eight more babies”.

What was she expecting? And why is she getting fertility treatment in the first place? She clearly needs psychiatric evaluation and the fertility doctor needs to be investigated so that this never happens again.

This is wrong on many levels. She has a set of twins, which is highly suspicious of previous fertility treatment. If not – they were certainly predictive of future multiple births.

We do not ever intend to give someone octuplets. . . . Apparently the mother made the decision to carry all eight babies to viability.

It is intended if the possibility exists. What kind of doctor implants 8 embryos at once into a clearly functioning womb knowing full well that the mother is not going to selectively terminate any of them and that she already has six children under 7 at home?

Who am I to say that six is the limit. There are people who like to have big families.

And what about the children?

There is not a child alive who wants to be one of 14 children. I can personally attest that being at the bottom half of a double digit family one does not get much individual attention. Much, much worse – the older children are charged with the responsibility of watching and raising their younger siblings instead of being allowed to be children themselves.

It is not their job. They didn’t ask for it. And when it is done through artificial means it goes beyond irresponsible to reprehensible.

Imagine the every day forevermore responsibilities that will be heaped on that 7 y/o. What type of mother does that willingly to her child? Who was that mother thinking about? Certainly not the children she already had.

What attention were they already not getting while she was on bed rest?

DR JAMES GRIFO, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the NYU School of Medicine:

I don’t think it’s our job to tell them how many babies they’re allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients.

He’s not a policeman – but he took an oath to first do no harm and there has been irreparable harm done to those six children that will continue the entirety of their lives and will affect how they treat their own – if they have any. Children who grow up in double digit homes do not have their own double digit families. They know how wrong it is to each child.

And what exactly does his “education” entail? How-to classes on how to raise 14 children under 7? How to pay for therapy? How to spread your love between 14 children — 8 of whom are premature and will require 24 hour care and who knows what type of future special needs care.

This story is troubling on many levels.

Why does the mother not want to be identified? Why did she “show up” already pregnant? Why did the grandmother allow her daughter to receive fertility treatments in the first place? How many of the other children were products of fertility treatment? What kind of doctor provided the treatment and where was it done? The guidelines state that only 2 embryos should be implanted in a woman under 35 – she is 33.

In my opinion, if a medical practitioner had anything to do with it, there’s some degree of inappropriate medical therapy there.

DR R. DALE MCCLURE, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said in a statement Friday that the organization has been working to reduce the number of high-order multiple births resulting from in vitro fertilization treatments.

If this resulted from an IVF treatment, we can say that transferring eight embryos in an IVF cycle is well beyond our guidelines.

Anyone who transfers eight embryos should be arrested for malpractice.

As should the grandmother who allowed it – sanctioned it. And her daughter’s sperm donor/ husband/husbands/father (s) of the babies?

ANGELA SULEMAN, grandmother of octuplets, who knew exactly what was going on, with the understatement of the cosmos: “It’s going to be difficult.”

Here’s a gimpse:

14 children without a father in the home.

A mother with no source of income or maternal judgment.

A grandmother unequipped to handle her daughter, let alone 14 children under 7.

Around the clock feedings and whatever other medical treatments needed for the 8 premature infants.

350 diaper changes a week.

Shuttling back and forth to school, shopping and the hospital. 7, 6, 5, 3 and twin 2 y/os needing to be fed, bathed, educated, entertained and loved. The younger 3 or 4 needing to be potty trained. None of them able to care for themselves.

How many minutes of individual attention will they get? Have they been getting?

And who is going to finance all this? Has been financing it?

The grandmother is just as responsible – irresponsible – and should be held accountable. Fertility treatment was not intended for a 33 y/o mother with six children no matter her means.

It is time for there to be strict ethical guidelines placed on fertility treatments – especially the donation of embryos to another family. There are already cases of adopted siblings unknowingly getting involved in a relationship, including marriage and children – even after they are made aware. It’s not considered “incest” anymore – it’s been gentrified to Genetic Sexual Attraction. No matter what they name it – it is against the laws of nature.

It is one thing to be given up after you were born.

What is it like to realize you were given up as an embryo? An embryo compiled in a laboratory? And what is it like for siblings to run across another family of “stranger” genetically related siblings?

And the pregnant man who had a bilateral mastectomy but not gender reassignment surgery who got pregnant via internet-bought sperm and a pet shop syringe? He’s pregnant again. How confused are those children going to be? And how disturbing was it for the doctors to deliver a baby from a genital region consisting of a vagina and birth canal and a hypertrophied clitoris the size of a penis?

First the World Series now the Super Bowl. Does he really have any thoughts outside political expedience? Does he care about anything other than furthering himself? He’s a soxfan only because Mayor Daley is.

BARRY: I wish the best to the Cardinals – they’ve been long-suffering. It’s a great Cinderella story. But, uh, other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that’s closest to my heart.

Anyone could have made his pick. He lost Pennsylvania big time and he’s gonna need those gun a’totin’, Bible a’quotin’ bitter bowling alley babes with enmity toward those not like them to vote for him in 2012. If he were truly interested in bipartisanship he would have picked John McCain’s home team.

BIDEN: I’m having a Super Bowl party at my house and some of our Republican and Democratic friends – but I want to make clear – I am rooting for the Steelers.

The curious part is who would Biden have picked – the Steelers or the Eagles? Pirates or Phillies? Penguins or Flyers?

It’s too bad the national audience has no idea about Chicago politics. Blago did nothing that isn’t done every day in Chicago and nothing that will be done tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. blago was railroaded. Period. You don’t get a complete shutout unless there was a frank discussion before the vote. The vote itself shows the same dealmaking that blago was only accused of. He has not been convicted of anything other than darkening barry’s halo.

They have been after him for years and they seized the moment. The impeachment had nothing to with what he did or might have done. Right out of the mouths of the Chicago politicians after the verdict. IF HE DID something wrong. Nothing was proven. Not a single thing. The tapes should not have been brought in and they were. Blago did not have a chance to defend himself no matter what they said. Those tapes haven’t been vetted. Those tapes were selected bits of inflammatory language not backed up by a single act.

EUGENE ROBINSON: By all accounts he was a terrible governor – that’s grounds for impeachment.

Absolutely no idea what was going on. Not at all a surprise. 750,000 Illinoisans have health insurance. All children have health insurance. The first and only state in the US. He’s actually done something barry has flipflopped and campaigned on. Blago made it happen. Right now someone is in an ER getting lifesaving treatment. Right now a family is eating, has heat and electricity because they haven’t had to pay for health insurance. Minimum wage earners got a raise because of him. Single moms have gotten by because their taxes haven’t been raised. Women have had mammograms and pap smears and cancers found and treated without having to pay for them because of him. Seniors ride the bus for free. Three and four year olds get to go to preschool.

After his arrest and shaming in the media he signed an Autism bill mandating insurance companies to cover autism diagnosis and treatment up to $36,000/year for ALL children with autism up until age 21. Do you know what a victory that was? And he granted clemency to 22 people. (Two more today as a last hurrah.)

He has benefited a great many Illinoisans who will continue to benefit from his efforts while he is on trial for an indictment that has still not come and no one can say will be forthcoming.

You cannot discount that. He was made mockery of (and still will be) by people in the national press who have no idea what he’s actually done and what he has been accused of and if he actually has done any of it. It was not proven in a court of law because he has not been indicted on anything. But he was smeared and is being smeared. That will – is – not going over well especially to the people who have watched the national media turn a blind eye to barry’s nefarious dealings.

FYI – Tony Rezko is a real person who is being held in solitary confinement as a means to make him cooperate to convict blago. And what is he saying about barry? What hasn’t he been pressured on to give up about barry? He was the first and primary fundraiser for barry. He was indicted for corruption involving pay to play – involving campaign contributions – $10,000 of which made its way into barry’s coiffures – which he had to eventually donate to charity AFTER he was named in the Rezko indictment. barry has had to donate $160K of the $250K Rezko generated campaign contributions ($90k couldn’t be returned) and only after he came clean, after 18 months of pressure by the Chicago papers, after Rezko’s trial began, and after he had basically sewn up the democratic nomination. He didn’t give it all back after Rezko was indicted. He gave it back piecemeal as each questionable donation was exposed. And he is still donating back unclean money.

How many of you robamabots know that? How many of you still refuse to believe it?

How many of you in the national media, who have been laughing at blago’s “stupidity” for getting caught while he knew he was under investigation, know that barry got involved in his “boneheaded mistake” of buying his house with Rezko while Rezko was under federal investigation. And unlike Blago, Rezko had already been exposed in a false minority front involving a dead woman and Jabir Muhammad – son of the Nation of Islam founder. That is not a “boneheaded mistake”.

The Illinois People do not know about the specific political wranglings blagojevich was allegedly involved with – but every one of us knows that that is how things happen. We know that every year – every month – there is someone found to be corrupt or involved in pay to play. It’s how things are done. We know what barry has done to get where he is and see how the media has chosen to ignore it.

What we are now seeing is the Illinois legislatures taking advantage of blago in order to save face and “root out the corruption”. Like one person is going to do it. It worked awfully nice for barry didn’t it?

I ran across an interesting article by SIR CHRISTOPHER MEYER (Ambassador to Washington, 1997-2003) about nationalism and ethnic tribalism in today’s world. (Ethnic tribalism is a good term – especially in regards to the tribes of savages in the Arab world.) And how it must be faced head on and not with kumbaya barryism.

That is the brilliance of Madame Secretary Clinton – she has no such illusions, is well-educated in the history of warring factions, particularly as regards India/Pakistan/Afghanistan and Israel, and is reality-based, result-oriented and experience-driven. In other words, her foreign policy experience is more than the “having tea with ambassadors” that the mindless chanters fell for. She also has the ever-present awareness that women will be the ones to bring peace and prosperity to their oppressed lands not the human detonators and hate-filled evildoers.

And contrary to her homeland – in which she was First Lady of Arkansas for 10 years, First Lady of the United States for 8 years, Senator from New York for 8 years, presidential candidate and now Secretary of State – she is well-beloved and respected around the world, as is her husband. It is insane to see that sentence and realize that barry supporters actually said out loud that barry had more political experience. And Madame Secretary is presently more well known and more respected than barry around the world – and only time will tell if that changes.

If the American press continue to treat her so inhumanely, while she is trying to repair our standing in the world by implementing “barry’s” policy, it will show once and for all they are out to destroy her as a woman – a useless cause, of course. Is there a tougher woman, let alone politician, out there? It will prove they have no regard for barry’s “judgment” and it will prove their castration anxiety is more important than their futures, their children’s futures and our nation’s future, since it rests on her success.

Does anyone still believe barry has any idea or enough knowledge or experience to actually dictate foreign policy? He picked Biden just to get elected and look what has already happened. It seems he ‘s just another crazy old uncle, who says things barry doesn’t agree with. How fortunate it was that wardrobegate was more fascinating than his prediction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

President barry can’t even get a stimulus package passed when he has an unheard of approval rating. Perhaps. had he spent a little more time in the senate instead of campaigning, or refrained from trashing a true American hero by throwing around “POW Card” and accusations of racism, or had he actually reached across the aisle instead of proposing it, or had he had enough respect not to personally attack our former president – a Republican – he might have generated a little more good will.

An experienced proven politician would have known that.

Madame Secretary entered the race fully-footed in reality, having visited at least 50 more countries and 2 continents more than barry. But the cult of personality chose an untested politician – a man with no past, a man who did not have the economy in his top three issues as of 4-1-08, a man who has never made a stand on anything – to be president and commander in chief during an unprecedented time of crisis.

What has he done other than give mini-speeches and answer soft lobs?

He just admitted the reality of the presidency having descended on him. It dawned on him when he went to get his daily press adulation and realized they actually have some idea of how to do their job.

And who was it who knew the realities of the presidency going in having lived side by side with it for eight years?

Historians are going to wonder what was in the nation’s water supply during these last two years.

Anyway. Here’s an excerpt from MEYER’s article in the UK Times (highlight added):

Globalisation and interdependence were supposed to have swept aside these ancient feuds and rivalries. Theories of the postmodern state now abound. Tony Blair preached how national interest would be trumped by the spread of “global values”. This is self-evident rubbish. For here is the paradox of the modern world. Money, people, culture, business and electronic information cross porous frontiers in ever-increasing volume. But as national boundaries dissolve in cyberspace, so everywhere the sense of nationhood and national interest strengthens.

…It is useless to say that nationalism and ethnic tribalism have no place in the international relations of the 21st century. If anything the spread of Western-style democracy has amplified their appeal and resonance. The supreme fallacy in foreign policy is to take the world as we would wish it to be and not as it actually is.

Today ends a painful episode for Illinois. For months, the state had been crippled by a crisis of leadership. Now that cloud has lifted. I wish Governor Quinn the best and pledge my full cooperation as he undertakes his new responsibilities.

As I’ve repeatedly stated, the Governor must be held accountable for his actions to the legislature, in a court of law and to the people of the State of Illinois.Today’s conviction speaks loud and clear that there are serious issues preventing him from fulfilling his responsibilities and I support putting new leadership in place.

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton accused Blagojevich of showing a “self-aggrandizing absentee style of leadership” that was bad for Illinois.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she’s committed to moving Illinois beyond “this sad chapter” and she pledged to work with Quinn to restore people’s trust in government.

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes [one of barry’s 5 picks] said he supported the state Senate’s decision to remove Rod Blagojevich from office.

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias 9barry’s basketball buddy] said Thursday’s actions mark a “new beginning” and that the state now has a governor who values “collaboration over combativeness.”

Gov. Pat Quinn and hope to put the “sad chapter” of his predecessors’ administration behind them.

Shortly after Quinn took the oath of office, Secretary of State Jesse White [refused to certify Burris’ appointment] congratulated him.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said he congratulated Quinn on being sworn in, and said he was glad “this sad and tragic chapter in our state’s history is behind us and that it’s time to look to the future, and time for Quinn and the legislature to begin rebuilding confidence in state government.

If Illinois legislators needed more incentive to impeach Gov Blagojevich – barry’s proposed $825B stimulus package sealed the deal. The stimulus bill was worded expressly to prevent any funds going to Illinois until blago was impeached. It was written in last week.

The 647-page bill bars Illinois agencies from receiving any money unless the Legislature directs how it will be spent, or until “Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of governor of the state of Illinois.”

It does allow local governments to receive money directly from Washington or through the state, if state agencies follow an established formula.

Not a difficult decision when Illinois has a budget deficit of over $2.5 billions with no relief in sight. Wonder if that was a little bone tossed Dick Durbin’s way.

I found this article interesting because of the title: “Lesbian to Be Iceland’s First Female PM”. Like “lesbian” supersedes the fact that she is a woman and will be the first female PM. Like the story is only interesting and noteworthy because she is a lesbian. Would it not make the headlines if she were a non-lesbian? Polls show her to be the most popular politician in Iceland (approval rating 73%), so why isn’t it Most Popular Politician to become Prime Minister? First Female PM of Iceland? Woman to become Iceland’s PM? Progress in Iceland: First female PM?

Johanna Siguardardottir, 66, Iceland’s social affairs minister, is set to become the country’s interim prime minister. A former flight attendant and union organizer, she is openly gay.

Then it goes on to mention her platform: domestic violence, the disabled and the elderly and her qualifications – none of which hinge on her sexual preference.

After acting as a labor organizer when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines — now Icelandair — in the 1960s and 1970s, Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland’s parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and from 2007.

Protest in Iceland consists of the usual mass gatherings (this time requiring tear gas) and pelting the PM’s limo with eggs. Have to say the shoe slapping, placing of them on pole and then dancing and chanting has to be the most ridiculous. I’ll have to see what the shoethrower is up to…

Video of the pre-ordained, pre-negotiated vote. 59-0 to impeach. Commentary in a different post. They went one further and made sure (59-0) that he can never hold office in Illinois – and by stipulation by The Constitution – no other state. Though as the President of the Senate and blago’s nemesis, John Cullerton pointed out, Blago “can still run for president [and VP] of the United States as he speculated.” Well, barry got their tainted by the same man who has tainted blago – Tony Rezko – and without the executive experience blago already has.

Now having been “convicted” of impeachment, I move to prevent Rod R Blagojevich (he has no legal middle name – legally he’s Milorad Blagojevich) be disqualified from holding any future public office of this state.

While you watch ex Lt Gov Pat Quinn get sworn in, recall his many vehement assurances that Gov Blagojevich will be impeached, and then ask yourselves whether he should have recognized a conflict of interest in that blago’s impeachment would lead to his personal gain and political gain: a pay raise, a security detail, a governor’s mansion and notoriety of having succeeded the first governor ever impeached in the State of Illinois.

And while you’re at it, recall that Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, whose father, House Majority Leader Micheal Madigan, made possible her election, absolutely hates blago. Recall also that she made known in no uncertain terms that she wanted barry’s senate seat. Now imagine her ire when she realized she was never in the running?

What say you?

Fair trial?

Ask yourselves one thing: would you think it fair to be summarily fired, without any tangible legal proof, that you stole from the company for which you worked just because you were caught on (not yet proven to be legally obtained) tapes discussing your plans in profane language, and in so doing pist off your coworkers because you dared to embarrass your messiah of a coworker on track to be CEO and thus in a position to grant them future favors?

And if those tapes had nothing to do with why you were fired in the first place but were used anyway to embarrass and shame you in the court of public opinion guaranteeing a jaundiced jury when (if ever) you go to trial?

NY Times’ SHERYL GAY STOHLBERG: The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

Illinois State Democrats got together for their annual Rainbow/PUSH breakfast in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. I wonder what Rev Jackson is thinking about all this. He was out there helping blago the day before blago was arrested. Here are some comments from Gov Blagojevich’s fellow politicians. Listen to their tone. What is really making them angry? Why did they allow him to be re-elected in 2006 if he was such an evil delusional devil? The onus reflects clearly on them and that’s what The People of Illinois should hold them accountable.

Quotes complied from article by NBC 5 Chicago’s Dick Johnson, Kim Vatis, Peggy Cassidy. I don’t know if Durbin intended to mention that he discussed the senate seat with blago or if it just slipped out. Was he caught on tape too? And what exactly did Harry Reid say? And what did barry say to make them change their minds? Was barry beat by Bobby Rush yet again?

SEN DICK DURBIN (Sr Senator from IL):

When I talked to him, we went through a list of about 20 names and talked about who might be a good person and who might not. Oprah was not on the list … not on my list.

LT GOV PAT QUINN (blago’s running mate and soon to be replacement)

He has an infinite capacity for self pity and self absorption and I think the people of Illinois are ready to put an end to it.

FORMER LT GOV JUDY BARR TOPINKA (lost to Blago):

He lives in a delusional cocoon of his own. Illinois look like a bunch of buffoons. [He is] BS-ing his way through life to get one possible juror to think they’re not really sure. It’s not Gandhi or King. But Huey Long, former governor of Louisiana. Long left office in disgrace.

ROLAND BURRIS (barry’s senate replacement – lost to blago):

The Governor has to make his own decisions. The system must work its way out and if he’s guilty then he must pay the punishment for that. I am not siding with him in any circumstances.

He also said that Obama would not be president without Martin Luther King or Roland Burris. True.

SEN JOHN CULLERTON (Pres IL Senate)

It’s too bad [Illinois] is viewed as the laughing stock of nation. We should be celebrating [that] a former colleague is now president.

They all fail to mention their role in it – especially Cullerton. He has his own special vendetta with Milorad as does Lisa Madigan and her Speaker of the House father – all of which has escaped the national media. And how did she get her job?

How is a dramatic early morning staged for national media arrest followed by a Lincoln would roll over in his grave press conference and release of audiotapes that have nothing to do with the impeachment getting a fair trial?

LISA MADIGAN: The governor is making a mockery of the law, he’s making a mockery of the constitution. The whole concept of impeachment has been enshrined in not just Illinois law, but in federal law, from the beginning of our country. It’s talked about in the Federalist Papers, and so for him to claim he’s not going to get any kind of a fair trial and fair process is absolutely absurd.

He’s choosing to not participate, that’s something completely different than not availing yourself of a process and so in some ways, it’s almost admitting that he has nothing to say in his defense, despite what he’s saying on all these talk shows.

We can’t move our state forward at this point until Gov. Blagojevich is out of office and we have a new governor. I look forward to that day and hope it takes place this week.

She’s been looking forward to that day for a long time just like everyone else but she said nothing before he was reelected. She’s pist she didn’t get the senate seat. They all have their own axe to grind and their own personal agendas. On top of that he pulled a fast one with Burris and has brought unwelcome attention to Chicago politics that has always been and will always be how Chicago operates.

OLBERMANN: “Meanwhile a clean Illinois politician” talking about barry. And MARGARET CARLSON: “he hasn’t been on the wrong side of the bet in the last two years” and then she actually said that the obama’s are the “most famous first family”.

I don’t know how much he made in the last week but his wife has lost her $100K/yr job and he’s about to lose his $177K. On the bright side – even if he is impeached he will retain his governor’s pension – $64K/yr. All they can do for now is kick him out of office and ban his return. If he is convicted in criminal court, the state pension board can do what they did with Gov Ryan and deny him his pension. He’s not eligible to receive it for 3 more years (age 55). And even then he has his Congressional pension. Pat Quinn has already warned him that he’s going to have to find a way home himself – even though it’s customary for the governor to retain his security detail for a year. What remains to be seen is if he will attempt a final eff you as far as pardons, etc. [Yes. He pardoned two more folks.]

Good article by LEIGH CALDWELL on the actual financial breakdown of the cost of a senate seat. Tongue-in-cheek conclusion: “Rod Blagojevich was just too honest to sell the seat for its maximum possible value.”

Milorad hits The View. Best highlight – Joy Behar asks him to do his Nixon impression as in “I am not a crook!” and when he refuses she ruffles his hair. I wonder if she won a bet. I would like to know what the hair stylists tried to talk him into. If nothing else – I’m sure someone would offer him a hair care endorsement. His “football” is a Paul Mitchell hairbrush.

Most notable is his ease and affability. barry was nervous and fidgety.

PART 1
firedoglake

Barbara Walters via satellite. She wants to know what is on the tapes because otherwise why is he wasting their time. He doesn’t bite. She says she’d like him to come back after the impeachment trial. She was downright nasty. She seems to have forgotten he has not been charged or indicted – except in the court of public opinion about his profanity. And most egregious he brought ‘”taint” to barry – that has always been there and will always remain. How ignorant are you folks who believe barry hasn’t had to do the same things? Are you really that naive? Mesmerized? In denial? And what is it going to take?

Barbara Walters, since being on The View, as reduced her journalistic genius to catty gotcha tabloid reporting. It is sad. Especially her using the first biracial president to expose her decades ago and now irrelevant affair with a black senator to sell her book. Why the flight crew is so refreshing – shunning the spotlight and saying they were just doing their jobs. The unbelievable passengers wanting more money after surviving a 1 in a 1,000,000 water ditch flies in the face of human dignity and diminishes the acts of the flight crew born out of 132 years of service. They should be ashamed of themselves.

PART 2

Discuss Oprah as possible appointment, foul language – Whoopi said she could give him lessons – legal talk about his defense and then Joy wants to hear his Nixon impression. He doesn’t and she ruffles his hair. (7:28) The highlight of his entire media blitz.

blago media blitz continues. He had to cancel Geraldo, so in true Gerald style he tracked him down on the street between interviews. I did’t even know Geraldo was still around

BLAGO: I think everybody should do what they think is right.

Anybody who wants to say anything nice about me would be kind of nice ‘cuz there hasn’t been a lot said that’s been nice.

GERALDO RIVERA: I’ll buy you dinner.

BLAGO: Is that ethical?

His reference was Biblical and musical combined. Gospel song: One Day at a Time Sweet Jesus.

BLAGO is aware of his own madness: I have this delusion, which I know is a delusion, that I’ll wake up some time, like tomorrow morning, and then maybe they’ll realize that there’s one big misunderstanding here. That’s likely not to happen.

This is how crazy political coverage has gotten. Joe Biden is Joe Biden. He is not going to change. You want transparency – he’s it. The choices are leashing or banishing. barry’s attempt to muzzle him last week was unsuccessful and the little dig at Chief Justice Roberts’ about barry’s botched oath (#2) popped right out. You could see it coming.

He did apologize to Justice Roberts – but now he is being banished to Germany (a real international trip) with chaperone and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Gen James Jones, to attend the annual security policy conference in Munich.

barry’s probably still ticked with Dr Jill Biden’s remarks on Oprah – but he had no problem “kissing” her at the Convention.

…to Canada. How is that international? He could walk there. Wonder if barry didn’t have diplomatic immunity and tried to cross the border if he’d get refused entry like Ayers was. And in typical obamanator fashion he is going (2-19) when Parliament won’t be sitting, so he won’t have to speak to them and make more false promises and claims of transparency! And then there’s his straightening out that messy little campaign mess up re: NAFTA.

WGN TV: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons: This is a testament, not just to the size of our trading relationship and the closeness of our alliance, but also the strength of our friendship.

Berg’s press release on appearing in the Globe again. I would like to know what that sealed case entails. Highlight added.

(Lafayette Hill, PA – 01/26/09) – Philip J. Berg, Esquire, the first Attorney who filed suit against Barack H. Obama challenging Senator Obama’s lack of “qualifications” to serve as President of the United States and his cases that are still pending, Berg vs. Obama [2 cases – 1 under seal] and Hollister vs. Soetoro a/k/a Obama announced today that the new issue of GLOBE Magazine [2/2/09 issue] highlights his efforts to expose Obama not being “constitutionally qualified” and therefore, Obama should be removed from office.

Berg also stated that the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for an Injunction from the Conference that was held on January 16, 2009. However, the case that was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, Berg vs. Obama is still pending in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals where Berg just filed a Brief on 1/20/09.Berg said I had bypassed the Third Circuit hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court would hear our case on an expedited basis because of the significance of the case.

The two [2] other cases are in Federal Court and I will advise you shortly about the status of each.

Berg said, “This is the 5th time GLOBE Magazine has highlighted the question of Obama’s lack of ‘constitutional qualifications’ to be President. The new story about Obama is the center spread and two [2] other pages. More and more people are aware of the fact that Obama does not meet the constitutional ‘qualifications’ and that this is the biggest ‘Hoax’ perpetrated on the citizens of the United States in 230 years.”

Berg concluded, “I am proceeding for the 305 + million people in ‘our’ U.S.A., for ‘our’ forefathers and for the thousands and thousands that have died defending our Constitution with the legal fight to prove that Obama is not constitutionally qualified to be President.”

Drew Peterson is going to be on Nightline tomorrow to talk about his new “fiance” and his “engagement”. Which if he didn’t have he wouldn’t be going on Nightline if he didn’t have. Poor girl is a media pawn and she has no one around her to help her. How sad. Worse her children have been exposed to him – living in his house. How messed up is that whole household?

He was interviewed at home by Martin Bashir. I sure hope she isn’t on it with him.